VA Marks 20th Anniversary of Ground Combat in Gulf
By K.Allsup, on February 23rd, 2011

Department of Veterans Affairs
WASHINGTON â€“ On Feb. 23, the men and women of the Department of Veterans Affairs will mark the 20th anniversary of the start of ground combat in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Fighting ended 100 hours later after a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi forces from the small nation of Kuwait.

â€œAll Americans should be proud of the service and sacrifice of our Gulf War Veterans,â€ said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. â€œThey went to a foreign land, faced a well-armed aggressor and liberated an independent nation from occupation.â€

VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich, who commanded an Army field artillery battalion during the Gulf War, wrote a post to VAâ€™s blog at http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/?p=1522to discuss the war and VAâ€™s services for Veterans of the conflict.

VA officials noted that one consequence of the combat focused upon concerns that Veterans who served in theater are more likely to be ill from a variety of causes than their counterparts who didnâ€™t serve in the Persian Gulf during the war.

â€œBecause of the unexpected health problems of our Gulf War Veterans, the military and VA are on the alert to recognize and treat Veterans for unusual medical problems,â€ Shinseki said.

In the aftermath of the conflict, Gulf War Veterans were provided with health care under special authority, and VA rewrote its regulations governing disability pay to allow payment to Veterans with undiagnosed illnesses. The department also participated in a federal research drive, valued in excess of $400 million, to identify the causes of the Veteransâ€™ illnesses.

Other efforts have continued since then. In March 2010, VA recognized nine specific infectious diseases associated with military service in the Gulf, for which Veterans are eligible for VA disability compensation.

Also in March 2010, VAâ€™s Gulf War Veteransâ€™ Illness Task Force, led by Chief of Staff Gingrich, issued the draft of a comprehensive report that identified gaps in services to Gulf War Veterans, as well as opportunities to serve them better.

About 697,000 service members were in the combat theater during the war. Another 5.7 million served elsewhere in uniform between Aug. 2, 1990 and Sept. 10, 2001. The military lists 148 combat deaths during the war, 235 non-combat deaths and 467 woundings.

A special VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veteransâ€™ Illnesses formed January 2002 is scheduled to hold a meeting here Feb. 28 and March 1 to review the status of Gulf War medical research. The meeting is open to the public. To find more information about that meeting, visit http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/meetings.asp.

VA also plans to hire a high-level manager to oversee the departmentâ€™s Gulf War research program, along with oversight of the research into other environmentally-related health problems for military personnel and Veterans.

A recent VA study of Gulf War Veterans found that about 6.5 million people served on active duty from Aug. 2, 1990 to Sept. 10, 2001. Of that total, about 1.1 million were deployed to the Persian Gulf region.

Of the 6.5 million, about 1.9 million are enrolled in VAâ€™s health care system and 1.2 million have medical problems that are service-connected.

Department of Veterans Affairs
WASHINGTON â€“ On Feb. 23, the men and women of the Department of Veterans Affairs will mark the 20th anniversary of the start of ground combat in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Fighting ended 100 hours later after a U.S.-led coalition drove Iraqi forces from the small nation of Kuwait.

â€œAll Americans should be proud of the service and sacrifice of our Gulf War Veterans,â€ said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. â€œThey went to a foreign land, faced a well-armed aggressor and liberated an independent nation from occupation.â€

VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich, who commanded an Army field artillery battalion during the Gulf War, wrote a post to VAâ€™s blog at http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/?p=1522to discuss the war and VAâ€™s services for Veterans of the conflict.

VA officials noted that one consequence of the combat focused upon concerns that Veterans who served in theater are more likely to be ill from a variety of causes than their counterparts who didnâ€™t serve in the Persian Gulf during the war.

â€œBecause of the unexpected health problems of our Gulf War Veterans, the military and VA are on the alert to recognize and treat Veterans for unusual medical problems,â€ Shinseki said.

In the aftermath of the conflict, Gulf War Veterans were provided with health care under special authority, and VA rewrote its regulations governing disability pay to allow payment to Veterans with undiagnosed illnesses. The department also participated in a federal research drive, valued in excess of $400 million, to identify the causes of the Veteransâ€™ illnesses.

Other efforts have continued since then. In March 2010, VA recognized nine specific infectious diseases associated with military service in the Gulf, for which Veterans are eligible for VA disability compensation.

Also in March 2010, VAâ€™s Gulf War Veteransâ€™ Illness Task Force, led by Chief of Staff Gingrich, issued the draft of a comprehensive report that identified gaps in services to Gulf War Veterans, as well as opportunities to serve them better.

About 697,000 service members were in the combat theater during the war. Another 5.7 million served elsewhere in uniform between Aug. 2, 1990 and Sept. 10, 2001. The military lists 148 combat deaths during the war, 235 non-combat deaths and 467 woundings.

A special VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veteransâ€™ Illnesses formed January 2002 is scheduled to hold a meeting here Feb. 28 and March 1 to review the status of Gulf War medical research. The meeting is open to the public. To find more information about that meeting, visit http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/meetings.asp.

VA also plans to hire a high-level manager to oversee the departmentâ€™s Gulf War research program, along with oversight of the research into other environmentally-related health problems for military personnel and Veterans.

A recent VA study of Gulf War Veterans found that about 6.5 million people served on active duty from Aug. 2, 1990 to Sept. 10, 2001. Of that total, about 1.1 million were deployed to the Persian Gulf region.

Of the 6.5 million, about 1.9 million are enrolled in VAâ€™s health care system and 1.2 million have medical problems that are service-connected.

I read it and it sounds good on paper but the fact of the matter is " there not helping much on free will, we fought on our own free will, they should want to help with out them making feel worst than what we al ready do". I stomach has been acting since Monday go to VA and the Dr. says its my diet. I told what diet "I haven't eaten since Monday evening". Brothers you guys do more more me than all the damn meds......

Tell me what you know of the other services and what I can do to help myself. I can only relay my misery with the VA and it has been a total mess for some time now. Question is have you heard of the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center in Washington DC?